Matt 236

Looks like a trap for me

Choices of coasters I'd most like to see for Thorpe's next big addition. 1/ RMC with lots of air time 2/ GCI woodie flooded with air time 3/ Mack launch filled with air and hang time 4/ B&M hyper induced with a great level of air time 5/ vekoma Runaway Train style coaster- lots of helixes and maybe a some air time This post became a little bit airy,

Play station Cadbury or Nestlé?

In terms of sizes I know Legoland's 150, Towers is 500 and Blackpools 42 acres. No idea about Chessington's size but with Zufari taking around 20 and the rest I'd say about 90. I think Thorpe is no bigger than Blackpool pleasure beach so doubt actual patk space/land is more than 40 (excluding car park, lakes and up accessible areas and islands).

Think this may have been here a while (maybe since the summer) as I recall seeing some Lego movie treasure hunting bits when I last visited the park this September. Still think it's a great touch to the park using elements from the movie as kids probably love the film (probably second to only Frosen). Would love to see a Lego movie themed attraction/Walkthrough as it would be such a fun interactive addition and be a hit with visitors. If residents refuse this then it's time to release the Kragle!

The big question I have is apart from the island near Swarm, Fungles spot and Shark island eventually, is there any unused land left at the patk after that and could more lake infilling ever be a possibility? If the answers no, I guess assuming Merlin do the big ride ever 4 years method (previously 3) we will see thorpe run out of empty space run out at the park by 2024. On the side note I see the following rides either gone or at the end of their lives by/before that time (expanding on other posts). The beach area (possibly minus the fish) Loggers, Slammer & possibly rocky Ranger county Lost city flats (mostly vortex & samurai) I think Colossus & saw will get to 30 years before they're removed/torn out, which I guess would be 2032-2039 Btw how big is Thorpe (in acres)?

I don't like rants that are short, pointless and don't contribute anything Rant over

Ok, worst experiences thrmepark wise in 2014 1/ waiting 90 minutes for Valhalla because the ride kept breaking down and (what seemed like) thousands wanted to ride it too. (Was worth in the end though-just). 2/ getting stuck on Bubbleworks for 20 minutes (where we had to wait). Ironically my boat was the next one off the exit. 3/ Waiting for one train Colossus 4/ Legoland getting burger kitchens but not a haunted house 5/ Rita & Charlie existing

Yeah Impossible isn't the best attraction (possibly my least favourite on park) it's almost so bad it's actually good. Haven't done Dora yet but expect a pleasure beach equivalent of Charlie. I'll have to add to the list of rides to do next time including River Caves, Derby Racers, Nick land remainder & Flying Machines (which were closed when we went).

I guess out of all the woodies there, it's the one I'd mind the least waiting one train op for (I'm excluding the flyer as it only has 1 anyway). Although I'd love to see a 2nd train there (which I think happened a couple years back once). Still better than waiting for 1 train Colossus Yeah monorail was a bit of an eyesore tbh and I'll doubt we'll see it go anytime soon, as there's quite a few SBNO attractiones there now Ark, Trauma Towers plus Bling's site is still empty (but hopefully not for long). Hope this year is a successful year for the park. They're no Merlin or towers (better in some ways from them) but I think they seem to try quite hard and make the place up kept.

Blackpool for me is arguably the best themepatk I've seen at night. It's so beautiful with the illuminated lights and rides in the background. To say it looks better than Thorpe, Oakwood and even (to a degree) Tivoli World is saying something. Of course can't compare it to other big parks really as I've not done Disney (all), Port AV, Efteling etc. yet. Legoland is nice at night, but the park flops a bit due to lack of activity as half the park closes (Viking,imagination, traffic etc.) making the only real highlights the view from top and dragon and miniland at night.

In regards to rides worldwide, I wished I could've ridden 1/ Wildwasserbahn 2 at Heide Park, it looked quite a decent flume attraction with theming and a big final drop, better than the remaining one there. 2/ Studiotram Tour (FL) I know there's one in Paris, but this is one if the original WDS rides. 3/ Big Bad wolf- it's an arrow suspended coaster. Enough said. 4/ Maelstrom- I know it isn't closed yet but by the time I ever set foot in WDW it'll be Frozen 5/ Jaws- looked a great ride 6/ Back to the future- great Scott! 7/ The Original Test Track 8/ Colossus- magic mountain- 9/ Mr Toad MK 10/ Gwazi- I know it's still open but it's on the chopping line and I doubt I will get chance to ride it

Put me on the attending list please. As for Brave it alone I'm looking in to it, but again for now put me on list.

Or we could go to Chessington as a protest vote/meet.

Yeah sadly Blackpool has lost quite a lot of rides in the last 10 years, here's some of them. Monorail closed 2012 Bling closed 2011 Gold Mine closed 2011 Swamp a Buggies closed 2011 Magic Mountain closed 2010 Alpine Go,f closed 2009 4D Cinema closed 2008 Noah's Ark closed 2008 Trauma Tower closed 2008 Space Invader closed 2008 Clown coaster closed 2008 Junior whip closed 2008 Spin Doctor closed 2006 Black a Hole Waltzer closed 2006 Drench Falls closed 2006 Turtle Chase closed 2006 Big Apple closed 2004 So that's it. At least 17 rides gave been removed from the park in the last 10 years which is depressing, what more at least 6 of those rides haven't been replaced by anything, ark & trauma I fact technically still SBNO. 2006,2008 and 2011 seemed to be notorious bad years for ride removals. Hopefully the park will be doing better now (especially with it's recent trip advisor success) and will be going back to growth again.

Unfortunately in the world of themepark saw we receive many new/updated attractions every year, we also see many close & disappear. What's everyone's top 10 attractions in the uk/world they sadly never got to try but would most want to ride/experience. Mine are (uk only) 10/ vampire- pre 2001 bat trains Chessington 9/ Trauma Towers Blackpool 8/ Runaway Coaster Rotunda 7/ Magic Mountain Blackpool 6/ Noah's Ark Blackpool 5/ Magnum force Flamingo 4/ Knightmare Camelot (assuming it doesn't run again in the uk) 3/ Toyland Tours Alton Towers 2/ Corkscrew Alton Towers 1/ Black Hole Alton Towers Rides I've ridden but miss the most Phantom Phantasia, nutty jakes gold mine, rocket racers, Magic Theatre & Magic Mill

Things I'd like to see happen for 2015 at the park 1/ Rumba Rapids extensively rethemed/refreshed with a major repaint, new water & interactive features and a more wild water flow to make it like a small scale Congo River rapids. 2/ Canada Creek refreshed, repaint TLC, loggers improved with new tunnel and improved water system. 3/ Flying a fish with new interactive and theming additions 4/ Colossus repaint (doubt this will ever happen) 5/ a new dark ride would be nice Doubt many of these things will actually happen

Microsoft

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Smiler has 5 trains, although I heard there was a 6th (or at least intentions there were) but when one of them got damaged during construction they weren't able to replace it.

Deer me, this is not the best of news for the patk tbh. This won't do any good to the park's already dwindling attendance figures as the park really is struggling now.

I'm pretty certain I'm left handed as I always use that hand for writing, drawing etc. but do use my right for things like computer games, playing music instruments etc. Very happy to see how many lefty members there are joining me in this one.

Hi and welcome to Part 4, the final instalment of Creaky Northern Adventure. After a pleasurable day at the pleasure beach, a night of exploring two of Blackpool's [best] piers and a not so bright Coral Island, the trip was set to continue on the 2nd day which would conclude the trip. The big question, where would be heading to next? With so much to do at Blackpool, you'd struggle so much to find any exciting attractions and ones that stand out from the others, after all it's not there's any other tall landmarks on the seafront. Of course, there's one thing there we should visit. The Blackpool Tower AKA Merpool Tower, because of the fact it's located in Blackpool and owned by Merlin, it even holds two typical traits two by having not the longest of opening hours and includes it's own bed of scaffolding. However before we go up to the eye of the tower, I think it's time to go and explore a pretty common Merlin chain attraction that seems to be getting around a lot of places these days. This place is, The Burger Kitchen Of course it wasn't [although FYI there actually is a Burger Kitchen on the 2nd floor of the tower] as we explored Blackpool's take on the Dungeons. So, What did I think? I thought they were actually very good actually, a lot of the scenes have the same high quality, gross, immersive experience the ones in London have [and in some ways a little better too]. The drop tower was certainly better at this one and despite getting more of a ride at the London one, it certainly feels a lot more coherent here as it feels like you're actually going up to be executed and then dropped when you're sentenced. A very decent attraction, not to be helped by the wonderful Natalie on tickets . The only flaws in the whole attraction for me was the bit with the Saxons/Vikings felt a bit meh due to it mostly being a cinema screen with things going and bits moving [though it's good they added that bit of history though], the stairs going down in the forest which detracted things a little, I'm sure not much could've been done in the building, but still not forest in the world has stairs [a slope would be a better option IMO] and the arcade at the entrance which just detracts a little [there's video arcades everywhere]. A tasty Fish & Chips for lunch and admiring of the sea front and it was time to experience the Blackpool Circus. Unfortunately cameras/photos were not allowed [another typical Merlin trait] and anyone was caught with one, they would stop the show and get a staff member to take it off you and give it back at the end . The circus was great fun, filled with humour, excitement and amusement throughout. I did particularly enjoy Mooky the clown with his funny jokes and interactions, especially at the end when they got members of the audience involved to act out a simple silent movie/play which was such fun to watch [WHY WHY WHYYYYY Delilah]. The rest was good too. With BMX cyclists, strong man, motorbike ball racers, synchronised swimmers/acrobats, beautiful gorgeous showgirls and even a working fountain [Merlin aren't good with working fountains], it made an amazing show to experience that definitely reflected and summed up the life, soul and atmosphere that Blackpool provides. I can definitely see why they call it Vegas of the north now. Once we fountained out of the fairly big top [but it's actually on the lowest level of the tower], it was time to have a look at the Blackpool Ballroom, which despite not being the cup of tea for most of group was certainly a grand gem located there, with it's grand old fashioned decor, sea side/old time atmosphere and the grand Wurlitzer with it's distinctive rich tone playing out throughout the dance floor. Tpm's Mer and Peaj even took a dance on the floor of this famous ballroom. Waltzing away from the ballroom now and it was time to complete the tower's attractions with a flight to the top of the tower itself. Built in 1894 [100 years before Nemesis was awakened back down at Towers], the tower was born. Standing at a staggering 518ft [480 accessible to the public], the tower can be seen for miles. It's design was also inspired from the Eiffel tower in Paris too [near Euro Disney]. The tower offers some simply breathtaking views from above giving sights for many miles of the surrounding area which is so beautiful to see. I'll let you see for yourself rather than bore you with more talking. You can even see the big One. You get some beautiful views, until the [Merlin] safety net obstructs [for safety of course] and getting good pics is then a lot harder to achieve. The viewing platform It's a bit like a prison. A pretty prison in the sky. And that was it! Blackpool tower offers some truly remarkable views of the whole surrounding area. I may have wandered back to the Merlin circle, but it was well worth it for this jewel and new credit, not to mention I've now got myself another new resin and souvenir from my fantastic trip here. Legoland Discovery Centre & Warick Castle are now the only unique Merlin attractions I'm yet to do in UK aside from the countless Dungeons and Sealifes [JoshC]. Blackpool also has a sea life and Madame Tussauds I hear you say? Unfortunately we didn't manage to try these attractions as not everyone in our party had a MAP at the time and also it was time call Blackpool time as it was getting late and as most had school, uni or work the next day none of us wanted to be too late! These weren't the big losses at the end of the day as the Sealife is probably similar to the one in London and much of the Madame Tussaud's material are items no longer needed from the London attraction. Once walking back to our cars, we said our farewells and it was time to say goodbye to Blackpool and hello to the long journey home with hours of motorway, traffic, seating with only company, ride themes and a cheeky mcdonlads on the way to keep me going. I had a fantastic trip in Blackpool and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Pleasure Beach was brilliant, The tower was Brilliant, The Cirucs was brilliant and the Dungeons, Ballroom, Piers and the rest were also very good, not to mention the great company I had up here that weekend too, with some great laughs, TPM Twister, Late Dominoes pizza etc. If amusement parks, Video arcades, sea sides, exciting nightlife and impressive shows,illuminations and random midway attractions are your thing, Blackpool is the place for you! It would be very easy to spend a week or even a fortnight out here as there's so much to do. Two days at the Pleasure Beach, One day at the waterpark and Piers, two at the Tower and surrounding midways along with another two chilling, visiting the arcades and more of the night life and culture and you're easily already got plenty to do with a week's visit here, plus there's plenty of hotels and BNB's near or along the seafront. One day I hope to return here again for another visit and re-experience the great things I did on the last trip and some ones I didn't do last time, including the missed out ride creeds at the Pleasure Beach [River Caves, Flying Machines, Nickland etc.] among others. The only problem with Blackpool is it's such a b**** to get to as it takes 4-5 hours each way to get as it's so far away, not to mention the horrendous traffic on the road and you need to really stop a couple of times on the way to get food rest your legs and use the facilities once in a while, but apart from that, it's good. Big Thanks goes to Peaj, Scary Coasterboy, Mr Fish and many others for making this trip possible and helping arrangements towards the fantastic weekend it became. Hopefully I'll be reporting on another major park someday outside the Uk Merlin circle again, although if it's a while then it could well take the Mickey .

Different photo Appropriate for fright nights Looks presentable Makes a point for the member 9/10

I do wish thorpe would just do the 2 train op thing every weekend and peak as well as selected weekdays such as Mondays, Thursdays & Fridays. One train op is one of few things I don't like about Thorpe and that they're not doing right currently.